Loom



Feb. 22,1944. A. M. DYKESETAL 2,342,391

LOOM Fiied Jan. 6, 1942 s Sheets-Sheet 1 0 INVENTORS,

2 .404 M. DY/(ES.

CHARLES LEW/.5 MILLER. BY 5 ATTORNEK 22, 1944- A. M DYkEs ET AL 2,342,391

LOQM

Filed Jan. 6, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ADA M. DPKES. CHARLES LEW/S MILLER A T TORNEK INVENTORS;

Patented Feb. 22, 1944 LOO'M Ada M. Dykes and Charles Lewis Miller, Oakland, Calif.

Application January 6, 1942, Serial No. 425,798

5 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of weaving, and particularly to improvements in the construction of loomsfor handoperation.

The many known types of power looms are suitable for the mass production of woven goods of excellent quality. They do not, however, permit the exercise of the artistic and creative abilities of the individual weavers, and the expense of preparing them for operation on different patterns eliminates them from use Where a limited output of distinctive designs is desired. The quality of the power loom output is never the equal of the finest work of highly skilled hand weavers.

A recurrence of interest in the hand-craft arts and the most artistic products of the weaving process has led to a revival of the use of looms in which. the power is provided by the weaver, and in which his or her skill is given its utmost scope. over those. previously known, and it is with such improvements that our invention is concerned. Our new construction allows the weaver to produce a wide variety of patterns of artistic merit with greater speed, ease of operation, and uniform quality of output than is possible with previously known looms of the same general type. Atthesame time, the effort required has been so reduced that the serious fatigue previously produced in the loom operator is eliminated.

The objects of our invention lie in the provisionof mechanisms to attain specific operating advantages contributing to such easier, more rapid, and more uniform weaving. These objects' will appear in detail from the general discussion following and will suggest to those skilled in the art other features of advantage inherent in our design. It will be understood that We do not limit ourselves to the exact embodiments shown, but that we reserve the right to make such modifications as shall be deemed necessary and within thescope of the claims.

Theimprovements hereafter disclosed are concerned directly withthe-problems of introducing the warp threads into the loom, the tie-up of the harnesses and lams, the ease of movement of the harnesses in forming the shed, the transition fromup-shed to down-shed operation, productionof alarge shed when operating in either fashion, the position ofthe reed, the maintenance of constant, uniform warp tension, the construction of the lams, and such other and incidental factors aswill appear.

The details of construction are illustrated in the'drawings, in which:

These hand. looms have been improved Fig. 1 is an elevational view of our loom, taken from the-'right'side;

Fig. 2 is an elevation view, taken from the left side;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view;

Fig. 4 is a front sectional view, taken in the plane of line 4--4 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a side sectional view, taken in the plane of line 5-5 in Fig. 3, illustrating the formation of an up-shed; and

Fig. 6 is afragmentary side sectional view corresponding to Fig. 5 but illustrating the formation of a down-shed.

The loom, indicated generally as I, comprises a main frame 2 carrying centrally an upright harness frame 3. These frames must be very strong and rigid, although in some cases we may prefer to make them in a readily collapsible design for ease in moving them from one location to another. A- cloth roller 4 is disposed transversely of the front end of main frame 2, while at the rear endthe frame 2 carries a warp roller 5; A compactroll 6 of warp threads is formed as a preliminary step to Weaving by anohoring and winding a flat sheet of warp threads on. to the warp roller 5 in conventional fashion, the warp threads being of sufficient length to produce the required material.

The warp threads 7 are led in a co-planar array or sheet from the roll 6, over a whip roll 9 adjustable to two positions. That shown in Figs. 1- to 5, inclusive, isused for up-shed operation, while for down-shed weaving it is raised as illustrated in Fig. 6. In either position, the whip roll 9 is held fixedly by an adjustable chain it, or equivalentmeans, which links arms H, on which whiproll 9 is mounted, to frame posts it, on which the arms H are pivotally mounted.

Each thread of the warp sheet 1 is lead, after passing over whip roll 9, forwardly through one ore more heddles. l4 fixed in the harnesses [5. Each heddle isa loop of wire or thread through which thewarp thread passes loosely and which is raised or lowered by movement of the harness l5 to separate certain warp threads I6 from the main warp sheet 1. This separation produces the shed H or space through which the Weft threads will-be-passed' in the weaving operation. The particular combinations of warp threads aised determine: the pattern of the product. These combinations are secured by the tie-up of particular harnesses l5 to thelams, and selection of particular lams by the operator through his choice of pedals, all of which is to be described hereafter Emerging forwardly of the heddles i4 and harnesses 15, the warp threads pass through a reed or comb IQ of beater 20. Reed I9 is of conventional design, consisting of a frame in which a number of fine wires are secured vertically in parallel. A warp thread passes through the dent, or space between each adjacent pair of wires of the reed l9, and the beater 20 is mounted pivotally at 2| on the main frame 2. through an offset arm 22. This offset mounting is used so that the comb l9 can be raised into a vertical position, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 5, closely adjacent to the harnesses l5, allowing maximum shedding movement, and yet have sufficient clearance for the warp threads when the beater is pulled forward to beat the weft threads together into the web or finished cloth 24.

The cloth 24 passes overcloth beam 25 and intervals the pawl may be manually released to feed additional warp into the loom. Tension is maintained on the warp sheet 1 by winding a cord 32 about a pulley 34 fixed to the cloth roller leading the cord 32 through a pulley 35, and attaching to it aweight 36. As fast as warp is released from the Warp roller 5 by manipulation of pawl 30 and ratchet 3i. the weight 365 causes the finished cloth to be wound up on cloth roller 4 with substantially uniform tension.

This prevents the development oflines or soft spots in the web which commonly develop with the usual arrangement of ratchets on both warp and cloth rollers. Each time the warp roller ratchet is released, the tension of the entire warp is changed enough to show in the finished web in the commontypes of looms, and the ratchet take-up on the cloth roller is not an accurate means for restoring the tension to a uniform value.

If the weaver wished to produce plain cloth,

only two sets of heddles l4 and two harnesses l5 would be necessary. Every alternate warp thread 15 would be raised simultaneously from the warp sheet 1 to form the shed l1, and with the beater 20 in the dotted line position of Figs. 1 and 5, the shuttle 31 of conventional type would be thrown through the shed ll, carrying with it a weft thread 39. The beater shelf 40' supports such of the warp threads 1 as are depressed by the shuttle 31 in its passage. After passage of the weft thread 39 through the shed, the beater 20 is forcibly drawn forward, pressing the weft thread 39 into intimate contact with the cloth 24. The raised warp threads l6 are then lowered to their original position, the beater 20 restored to the vertical, and the alternate warp threads, previously in the plane of the warp sheet 1', are raised to form a similar shed I1, through which the weft thread 39 is returned. This process is repeated until the desired length of cloth has been woven.

When ornamentation in the form of simple.

bands transversely of the cloth is desired,'the process above is'varied by using different types or colors of weft threads; longitudinal; stripings are similarly produced by using different warp threads. When a design is to be woven into the cloth, the problem is much more complex, and a plurality of harnesses and heddles are required. By the proper combinations of warp threads raised by the several harnesses, the weaver can produce an unlimited variety of patterns and designs.

In the drawings, We have illustrated a loom using eight harnesses, but it is possible to increase this number substantially. Each additional harness allows progressively more complex patterns to be woven, but in looms of the construction hitherto known, the addition of an extra harness increases the difficulty and labor of using the loom prohibitively.

The resistance which must be overcome by the operator includes the weight of the harnesses, friction, the weight of pedals and linkages to the harnesses, the tension of the warp threads, and other factors which combine in a formidable total when the loom is of any size, and particularly since hand weaving is usually done by women.

Consider, first, the construction of the harnesses and the means for moving them. Conventionally, the harnesses have been of vertical extent just sufiicient to support the heddles, and as a result have been prone to turn askew and jam in their guides unless great care was taken to apply exactly equal lift to both sides.

Our harness I5 is seen to best advantage in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. Each harness E5 is formed by two vertical legs 40 and 4|, joined by top horizontal bar 42, a central horizontal bar 44, and a bottom horizontal bar 45. Immediately beneath top bar 42 is fixed a top heddle rod 4% which cooperates with a bottom heddle rod l? fixed just above central horizontal bar 44 to support the heddles [4. The vertical legs 4!) and 4| act as elongate guide members within the harness frame 3, preventing the harnesses from sticking and developing excessive resistance during shedding. Each harness is. partially susi. pended by a chain 49, fixed t0 the top bar 42 at its center. Top bar 42 is connected in turn to the inner end of a counter-weight lever 50 rockably attached at its center to a counterweight lever support member 5i overlying the harness frame 3 and secured thereto by legs 52. A plurality of notches 53 are formed in the outer end of counterweight lever 50 to receive a counterweight cord 54, carrying counterweight 55.

By changing the cord 54 from one of notches 53 to another, the counterbalancing effect of the weight 55 is adjusted exactly as required for each individual harness. A guard '56 is attached to the harness frame 3 to protect the weights 55 from; casual contact. i

We have positioned the chain 49 so that as the harness I5 is raised from its lowest position, as shown in Fig. 4, to its highest position, the counterbalancing force is applied to the harness substantially in a vertical direction through its center of mass. This promotes the proper alinement of the harness as it moves in the guide formed by the harness frame 3 and studs 51. While the studs 51 hold the harnesses 15 in position against undesired movement longitudinally limit the upward traverse of harnesses l5. Stops 58 are so shaped that the individualwarp threads 2,342,391 will be raised in a fiat sheet in shedding, regard.-

less. of whether actuated by a heddle in one of harnesses closest to or farthest from the. cloth web 24. The stops also prevent the raised warp sheet from being irregular due to inaccuracies in the length oi the harness-to-lam up-shed tie cords 15, described hereafter.

Shedding is accomplished through the proper connection of foot pedals or treadles 59 to the lams Bil, which, in turn, are tied to the harnesses l5. Front transverse member iii of the main frame 2 supports the treadles 59 through hinges 62 at their forward or outer ends. Eyes 64, secured to the inner ends of treadles 59 receive down-shed lam cords 65, which are directly connected to the lams 66, as shown in Fig. 6, or upshed lam cords 65 which are led through pulleys 61 supported by a pulley bar 68 in upshedd-ing, as in Figs. 1 t 5, inclusive.

Each of lams 60 is a rectangular bar, from one side of which projects a front screw eye 69 and arear screw eye Ill. On the opposite side, a number of front screw eyes ii are fixed in lam 66 with the same spacing as harnesses Iii, and a rear screw eye 12 is secured opposite eye 10.

In up-shedding, the rear screw eye Til is pivotally linked by a hook 13 to rear transverse frame member "i l, while the front screw eye 69 is tied to the lam cord 85 which rides over pulley 6?. When a treadle E59 is depressed, lam cord 65 raises the lam iii), and with it whichever of the harnesses i is tied thereto by lam up-shed tie cords 15.

In Fig. 5 a single harness i5 is shown lifted by the action of a raised lam "it to form the shed l1. Every warp thread engaged by the heddles in harness l5 will be included in the-shed thus formed. Only one harness is shown tied to the raised lam, and will be controlled by the particular treadle 59 shown depressed. The connections to lam 11, shown at rest in lowered position, represent the opposite extreme, every harness being attached thereto. Any combination of harnesses between these limits may be secured to each lam, and the variety of patterns which can be produced by depressing different combinations of treadles 59 is very great.

It will be appreciated that the operation of shedding is rendered very much easier by the construction we have illustrated. The method of central overhead connection to the counterweights through chains 49 and the use of elongated harness legs 40 and 4| maintains the alinement of the harnesses regardless of whether the individual harness is being raised by a lam upshed tie cord 15 fixed centrally of the bottom bar 45, as at 19 in Fig. 4, or by one secured near the harness legs, as at 80, and eliminates the jacks or intermediate levers which have hitherto been necessary and which required much greater force to operate those on the sides than those in the center.

To make the shed H as large as possible, the warp sheet 1 is held low by fixing positioning whip roll 9 in its lower position, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, by means of chain It This allows a maximum utilization of the full vertical extent of reed l9.

This ease of shedding carries over to downshed operation. The whip roll 9 is raised to the position shown in Fig. 6 and locked by chain l0. This-permits as large a shed to be formed as in up-shedding, which was not possible in prior loom constructions of this type. Lams B0 are turned over, so that the rear screw eye 12 can be hooked over the hooks I3 in rear'frame member. 14. The screw eye 69 is now connected directly to treadle 59 by the down-shed lam cord (55. The harnesses l5 are connected .to the lams 69 by downshed tie cords 82. Cords 82 are tied to screw eyes 84' fixed in the center horizontal harness bar 44, and to the particular ones of the plurality of front lam screw eyes H which are in alinement with the individual harnesses.

Greater counterbalancing forces are necessary in down-shedding, since the harnesses must be held normally in raised position. This additional force could be supplied by changing to a larger size of the counterbalancng weights 55. Thisrequires two sets of weights, however, and may be done more simply and economically by using a movable fulcrum position, as seen in Figs. 3 and 4 of. the drawings.

In upshedding, the counterweight lever 50 is suspended from the support member 5| by means of a hook 8i fixed in the latter over which is engaged a screw eye 89 securedto the former. The support member 5| is in turn carried by legs 52, which are attached to top girders 9%! of frame 3 by means ofbolts 1 and thumbscrews 92 through suitable bores, hidden in the figures. We provide auxiliary downshed bores 96 to which bolts 9| may be moved for down-shedding. The supporting framework, consisting of legs 52 and the transverse supporting member 55 is secured to bolts 9! in the auxiliary position, and the counterweight lever 55] is suspended from hook 81 by an auxiliary downshed screw eye 55. This arrangement increases the mechanical advantage inlever 50 so that the same size of counterweight 55 will be effective to hold the harnesses in raised position.

Easy removability of the lams (it! is important, since it permits the operator to change from upshed to down-shed, or vice versa, very rapidly. It is also of great assistance in the initial operations of preparing the loom for weaving, as the removal of the lams allows the weaver to get into the loom close to the work. It should be observed that the mounting of the lams in continuation of the treadles instead of at right angles thereto, as in conventional practice, not only allows more direct and advantageous connection of lams to treadles, but also allows the use of the long harness sides which make it possible to connect the lams to the harnesses at any point along the harness width and yet operate with equal facility.

In making the initial tie-up of lams to harnesses, difficulty has been experienced in getting proper lengths of lam up-shed tie-cords 15. It is important in producing a uniform height oi shed on all warp cord combinations that these lam tie-cords T5 be of exactly the right length, but the lengths differ to each harness, due to the arcuate movement of the lams themselves.

We attach 1am chains of uniform length to one of the plurality of front lam screw eyes H on each lam to act as a gauge by which the lengths of all the 1am tie-cords 75 may be properly adjusted, achieving a great saving in time and effort.

In summary, our new design of loom enables the weaver to thread the warp conveniently and rapidly, tie up the harnesses, lams and treadles with accuracy and convenience, change from upshed to down-shed operation rapidly, and weave with greater speed and less effort in forming the shed and beating the weft.

The variety of patterns which can be woven is unlimited, since a great number of harnesses can be handled with little exertion. The web is more uniform in character, due to the uniform tension maintained on the warp. The construction shown is simple and requires no unusual or expensive parts. It can be made of easily procurable materials and kept in order by the weaver with the exercise of ordinary skill.

What We claim is:

1. In a loom, the combination of a frame, harnesses vertically movable in said frame, each of said harnesses comprising a framework composed of vertical side members and spaced-apart top, bottom, and intermediate horizontal members attached to said side members, heddles supported between said top and intermediate horizontal members, and means for imparting up-shedding or down-shedding movement to said harnesses including lams adapted to be connected either to said intermediate horizontal members or to said bottom horizontal members.

2. In a loom, the combination of a frame, a plurality of treadles mounted in said frame parallelly throughout their full length, a plurality of lams mounted for movement in a common vertical plane with said treadles, means for connecting said treadles directly to said lams, a plurality of harnesses mounted in said frame normal to said treadles and lams, and alternative connections arranged for connecting said lams directly to said harnesses for either up-shedding or down-shedding movements.

3. The combination in a loom, of a frame, a plurality of pedals parallelly disposed in said frame, a plurality of lams mounted on said frame for movement in a common vertical plane with said pedals, alternative ties arranged to connect said lams to said pedals for either up-shed or downshed operations, a plurality of harnesses suspended centrally of said frame and normal to said lams, alternative connections arranged for connecting said lams to said harnesses for either up-shed or down-shed operation,,and means, including a movable fulcrum, for counter-balancing said harnesses.

4. In a loom, the combination of a frame, a plurality of treadles mounted in said frame parallelly throughout their full length, a plurality of lams mounted for movement in a common vertical plane with said treadles, means for connecting said treadles directly to said lams, a plurality of harnesses mounted in said frame normal to said treadles and lams, means for suspending said harnesses centrally in said frame, means including lever arms and counterbalancing weights for counterbalancing said harnesses, and means for varying the effective lever arms of the counterbalancing weights.

5. In a loom, the combination of a frame, a plurality of harnesses disposed in said frame, lams mounted normal to said harnesses, alternative connection for tying said lams directly to said harnesses for either up-shed or down-shed operation, a plurality of treadles, alternative ties arranged to connect said treadles to said lams for either up-shed or down-shed operation, and means for moving said harnesses in shedding with substantially uniform pressure regardless of the position relative to said frame of the particular treadle depressed, comprising vertically elongated harness legs, counterweights for each of said harnesses, a lever overlying each of said harnesses connected at its outer end to one of said counterweights and at its inner end to the center of said harness, means for adjusting the effective position on said lever of each of said counterweights, and means for shifting the fulcrum of all of said levers for changing from upshedding to down-shedding.

ADA M. DYKES. CHARLES LEWIS MILLER. 

